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“Will Iran establish a second Hezbollah in Syria?”
On March 17, the Kurdish Rudaw news agency carried the following report by its correspondent in Irbil: “In May 2014, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard forces in Syria Major General Hossein Hamadani said that “Iran has built a second Hezbollah in Syria.” Hamadani, who was later killed in attacks on Aleppo in 2015, was probably referring to the militias of various sects, formed under Bashar al-Assad, but most likely to the Shi’i formations in particular. From mid-2012 until mid-2013, Iran established many local and regional militias with the help of Al-Assad’s regime, including the factions positioned in Damascus in the Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade. At first, they had limited recruitment bases. But since the end of 2012, Iran’s Lebanese and Iraqi Shi’i agents turned these Syrian Shi’i militias into a new version of the Lebanese Hezbollah.

“And often times, these groups accepted the help and guidance of the Revolutionary Guard forces, Hezbollah, and the Iraqi Shi’i militias controlled by Iran. Hence, Iran started turning the Syrian Shi’i militias into itinerant groups, with fighters recruited from several regions. For example, the leaders of Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade were either Iraqi Shi’is living in Syria, or Syrian Shi’is affiliated with Al-Assad’s forces... At the beginning of 2015, various Syrian militias took the name of Hezbollah in Syria, and the Shi’i presence across the country widely contributed to the growth and expansion of this network. The Shi’is only represent 1% or 2% of the Syrian population, but they are positioned in important and strategic areas, to intercept the communication and supply lines of the revolutionaries near Aleppo, on the Lebanese-Syrian border, and along the Jordanian-Syrian border.

“Hezbollah’s success became a source of inspiration for the armed Shi’i factions affiliated with it in Syria, but Iran adopted the model it relied on in Iraq to establish the Syrian Hezbollah, by developing militias of various sizes and multiple facets, to implement ideological goals and spread regionally, just like the Lebanese and Iraqi groups. As for Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas Brigade, the first major Shi’i militia in Syria, it always raises Hezbollah’s flag alongside the Syrian flag in its promotional material. Likewise, some of its members display Hezbollah slogans, and their leaders have pictures of Supreme Guide Ali Khamenei hanging in their offices. They even cover the coffins of their dead with the Syrian flag, alongside that of the Lebanese Hezbollah or the Syrian Hezbollah. With the continuation of war in Syria, the armed Shi’i groups will remain as they are in the country.

“And Iran will continue to strengthen its foothold in the Levant and within the Shi’i community through them. At the same time, the fact that the armed Shi’i groups loyal to Al-Assad in Syria are turning to Iran, reveals a highly important change, considering that throughout history, Syria was always a competition arena between multiple ideologies within the Shi’i sect. And these groups’ transformation into a replica of Hezbollah by name and loyalty, is viewed as a great accomplishment for Tehran, and will allow Iran to maintain a stronger influence and show greater power inside Syria.”
Co-Founder: Nicholas Noe
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